When you lose data, it could be that the systems in the business that carry and store information have been deleted, corrupted, or cannot be recovered. Data loss can incur your company millions if not handled well. Mostly, it happens during storage, transmission, and processing. Data unavailability can also become data loss, say in the case of a power outage where you don’t recover your data or the data is unreadable. There are various reasons you may lose data in a company. The best remedy to avoid this is to invest in quality IT infrastructure and use managed IT services to keep your data safe. Here are the main causes of data loss.
- Virus or Malware
IT faces various security risks, the main ones being viruses and malware. A hacker may infect your files with viruses or malware for various reasons. An employee can also install a virus by downloading infected files from the internet or using an infected device. It is crucial to know how virus infection happens, educate yourself, and implement ways to prevent it. Some methods include installing a firewall and antivirus, preventing phishing, and limiting access to sensitive data.
- Hard Drive Malfunction
This is probably the most popular way many businesses lose data. You may lose data when the hard drive contains data malfunctions. Reasons a hard drive may fail could be age, exposing it to extreme heat and magnetic fields. It could also be because of internal factors like corruption of files, improper formatting, or interference with the system. You can know if your hard drive is about to fail if it is making scraping or clicking noises, computer freeing, hot temperature, slow loading, and presence of corrupted files. If you notice these signs, consider transferring your data before it malfunctions.
- Theft
You could also lose data if your computer is stolen. Depending on who steals it, the device can be more valuable than money. It could be hacking, stealing your identity, getting your bank account details, or even your company. Therefore, never leave your laptop unattended if it contains crucial data. Please bring it or ask someone you can trust to watch it.
- Fire and Water Damage
This may be a rare cause, but it also sometimes happens. If you have not installed a system to help mitigate fire with elements like a smoke detector, fire-proof cables, and sprinkler systems, your business may be at high risk should there be a fire instance. Water may also cause permanent damage to your device, and you may not be able to recover the data in the machine. Therefore, make sure you have a data backup stored somewhere else. Cloud can be an excellent place to keep it. So, familiarize yourself with IaaS companies.
- Power Surge
A power surge may also cause damage to your business. If a file was writing on the hard drive and power went off, the file could be corrupted, which may lead to data loss. Furthermore, when your device keeps shutting down and restarting due to the blackouts, it causes defects on the hard drive that eventually become a huge problem. So, be safe by having a power backup.
Work With IT Experts
It is crucial to have a team of IT experts who can help save your data in case of the issues mentioned here. An experienced IT company can help develop effective ways of improving data security and sealing any loophole.
